Today’s NY Times is full of energy stories, including the tale of an oil consultant who visited Africa and experienced first-hand the lack of electric lights at night.
Africa lacks all the basic infrastructure that we Americans don’t even think about, including roads, power lines, gas stations, basic plumbing. One thing the continent does have, though, is plenty of sunshine.
After visiting Eritrea, write Times reporters, Mark Bent decided to invent a solar-powered flashlight that would require a change of batteries only once every three years.
Bent found a Chinese company to manufacture the flashlight. (Why not an American company, I wonder?) He began distributing those flashlights to villages and created a program – BoGo – that allows Americans to purchase a flashlight for themselves, and have a second sent to Africa.
Bent believes that something like 2 billion people around the world live without electric lights.
To see what the arrival of electricity meant to rural Americans, read The Next Greatest Thing by Richard Pence. Filled with photos, it’s one of the most moving books I’ve ever read.
By the way, NY Times reporters credit Exxon Mobil with contributing money to help distribute Bent’s flashlights in Africa. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
